Book Review ‘The Court of Miracles’ ~ Kester Grant

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant

Publication Date: June 16th 2020

Publisher: HarperVoyager

Series: The Court of Miracles Trilogy #1

Blurb: Liberty

1828 and the citizens of Paris still mourn in the wake of their failed revolution. Among them, in the dark alleys and crumbling cathedrals of the city, the most wretched have gathered into guilds of thieves, assassins – and worse. Together they are known as The Court of Miracles.

Family

Eponine has lost more than most. When her father, Thénardier, sells her sister to the Guild of Flesh she makes a promise to do anything she can to get her sister back, even if that means joining the Court of Miracles, the very people keeping her sister a slave.

Treachery

Eponine becomes perhaps the greatest thief the Court has ever known, finding a place among them and gaining another sister, Cosette. But she has never forgotten the promise she made, and if she’s to have any hope of saving one sister, she will have to betray the other.

This beautiful reimagining of Les Misérables tells the stories of your favourite characters and what might have happened if the French Revolution had not come to pass.

★★★/5

Book Review ‘The Extraordinaries’ ~ TJ Klune

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

Publication Date: July 14th 2020

Publisher: Tor Teen

Series: The Extraordinaries #1

Blurb: Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra. 

Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right?

After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick’s best friend (and maybe the love of his life).

★ ★ ★ ★/5

Book Review ‘The Priory of the Orange Tree’ ~ Samantha Shannon

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Publication Date: February 26th 2019

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Blurb: A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tane has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

★ ★/5

Book Review ‘The House in the Cerulean Sea’ ~ TJ Klune

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Publication Date: March 17th 2020

Publisher: Tor Books

Blurb: A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.

★★★★★/5

Mini Review ‘Ormeshadow’ ~ Priya Sharma

Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma

Publication Date: October 15th 2019

Publisher: Tor.com

Blurb: Burning with resentment and intrigue, this fantastical family drama invites readers to dig up the secrets of the Belman family, and wonder whether myths and legends are real enough to answer for a history of sin.

Uprooted from Bath by his father’s failures, Gideon Belman finds himself stranded on Ormeshadow farm, an ancient place of chalk and ash and shadow. The land crests the Orme, a buried, sleeping dragon that dreams resentment, jealousy, estrangement, death. Or so the folklore says. Growing up in a house that hates him, Gideon finds his only comforts in the land. Gideon will live or die by the Orme, as all his family has.

★★★★/5

Review

Ormeshadow is an atmospheric treat that you can devour in a single sitting. A story of dragons, legends & the shadows in families. This has whispers of fantasy but is grounded in the bleak Victorian England countryside. Gideon’s tale isn’t necessarily a happy one but Sharma weaves an engrossing tale that’s hard to pull yourself away from.

The Orme slept for hundreds of years. Grass grew along her back. Most people forgot her. A village sprung up in her shadow and still she sleeps on.

Find Ormeshadow
Goodreads ~ Pan Macmillan Australia ~ Dymocks ~ Booktopia ~ Book Depository

Find Priya Sharma
Website ~ Goodreads Author Page